


What's in a Name

by LadyAramisGrey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: And so is Fictional History, Essays, Etymology, I'm such a geek, Languages are awesome, Not a Story, This is what I do with my free time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-02-11
Packaged: 2019-03-16 23:02:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13646271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAramisGrey/pseuds/LadyAramisGrey
Summary: Or, where I show off my absolute geekiness and nerdy linguistic obsession by writing out an amateur attempt to trace back the etymologies of Hogwarts and the Four Founders if they existed in the real world and weren't creations of Jo's mind. And then I extrapolate their origins from my theories.Language is Life!





	What's in a Name

**Author's Note:**

> As mentioned in the summary, this is essentially an amateur attempt to logically trace back the etymologies of Hogwarts and its Founders and then extrapolate the origins and pasts of the latter based on my findings. Keep in mind I'm not a professional linguist, I just have an odd obsession with etymologies and word roots and that is where this all comes from. I do list most of my sources, but also note that I frankly don't remember all of them, so I only listed the ones I have bookmarked. This essay has been a labor produced out of boredom over the past two years or so, done whenever I got a new idea or wanted to look up something with a different angle.
> 
> Discussion is fully welcome in the comments. If you can refute or further add to my findings I'll be glad to discuss them. If you comment something significant enough I may either post an addendum chapter or edit the original essay. Please don't mention any such insipid things as "it's just fiction, nobody cares" or "their names are what they are because Rowling made them". I am aware I'm writing about fictional characters and locations, I am just choosing to ignore it because it's more fun this way.
> 
> Sorry for the overly long author's note, and I hope you enjoy!

** The Origins of Hogwarts and its Founders Within their Universe based on Linguistic Evidence **

**Introduction**

This essay is not compiled by a professional linguist by any means. I am currently studying Linguistic Anthropology, but this essay found its origins long before I truly began working towards that goal. Etymology research has been a hobby of mine since I was in middle school and my dad showed me research he'd done on our surname. It had a number of interesting meanings depending on where you were from, but we have no idea where we're from. All of my family's known records clearly show none of my direct ancestors immigrated to North America within the past eight to ten generations at least. So I could pick and choose my meanings. That spurred me to figure out what the rest of my name meant, and the names of my friends, and the names of my family and friends' family. For anyone curious, one interpretation of my name actually translates to Princess Basket-Weaver/Beggar (this name's kinda obscure and depends on language origin, which I don't know) Consecrated by God. Not particularly in that order, but that's what makes sense when you string it all together.

As for my "Hogwarts Project", as I've been calling it, that began a year or two ago when I had an idea for a Founder's fic. It's nowhere near fleshed out enough to begin publishing and hardly written at all, but I'm a bit anal-retentive about my writing. I have to have a working plot and timeline before I start writing, or my stories usually go nowhere. I am an obsessive-compulsive researcher and a mad Ravenclaw in all ways, and so I get distracted by all the beautiful little tangents. This was one such tangent. I knew a bit of French at the time, so I thought it was odd that Godric Gryffindor's name is essentially both Welsh/Ænglisc and French. It's not that odd in modern day, but back in the 900s that would have been nearly unheard of. If you had a surname at all it was usually an occupation, a location of origin, a derivative that named you as your parent(s)'s kid, or a descriptor of a more well-known ancestor who was cool enough for his or her nickname to stick as the defining characteristic of that person and their children. So, I got curious. Why, I wondered, would Godric Gryffindor have his personal name and his family name exist in two different languages?

The easy answer is also the boring one. Godric Gryffindor's name, origins, and literally everything about him is the brainchild of J.K. Rowling, as is everything about the other Founders and Hogwarts itself. So, his name is Ænglisc and French because Jo liked how those names alliterated together, and thought it matched with a house of "bravery and chivalry". But like I said, that's the boring answer. If he was a real person, Godric Gryffindor would be unusual, a historical anomaly. So... I wondered what would happen if I approached this as if he  _were_ a real person. What if some enterprising muggleborn who knew a bit about etymologies and linguistics had the same idea I did and researched it? We know that nearly nothing is known about the Founders outside their names, general descriptions, and their works. Language is difficult to trace, but tells us a great deal about the culture it identifies.

And so the labor of over two years began.

I have researched, discarded, researched, finagled, research  _again_ , and finally compiled my findings. This is, in my humble, amateur opinion, the origin of Hogwarts and its Founders.

 **Note** that Fr. or F. stands in this case for Old and/or Middle French. Most of the word root and etymology websites I used neglect to differentiate between the two, unfortunately, so I cannot differentiate myself. Ger. stands for Germanic — I don't know what  _kind_  of Germanic, all my sources just say Germanic. I'm assuming it's Saxon-related at least because of the similarities to Ænglisc elements, but do take my Germanic findings with a grain of salt. O.E. stands for Ænglisc/Old English/Anglo-Saxon, the primary language all four founders would have spoken. I am quite familiar with this language, and often use it for fun in various stories. I'm personally iffy on grammar and such, but most of what I'm using in this essay is word roots. Scot is Scottish Gaelic, and, like the Germanic, please take this with a grain of salt because I have very little experience with this particular etymology for this particular time period. If only one of the Founders were Irish... If the exact language period (Old, Middle, Late) is not in the definition here, I will list it with the language below, or will leave it unspecified as in my sources. Also note that [p] is a representation of where there should be a thorn symbol, meaning "th/dd" in O.E. and Welsh. I'm putting that in because for some reason I can figure out how to embed ash (Æ) but not thorn into this program. Parts of speech are usually not given, assume everything is nominative unless listed otherwise; acc. is accusative.

 **Resources**  are taken from sites such as [Behind the Name](http://www.behindthename.com/), <https://www.oldenglishtranslator.co.uk/>, Wiktionary etymologies, and an assortment of other etymology pages where Wiktionary failed me, the most frequently used being [Etymology Online](https://www.etymonline.com/). The source that prompted most of my Hogwarts etymology research is [A possible etymology for "Hogwarts"](https://www.reddit.com/r/harrypotter/comments/6tcccw/a_possible_etymology_for_hogwarts/). Some of my research into Helga Hufflepuff's name origins came from this discussion: [Why is Hufflepuff House called Hufflepuff](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/57128/why-is-hufflepuff-house-called-hufflepuff).

**Hogwarts and Hogsmeade**

The origins of the word Hogwarts was actually the last portion of this informal essay that I worked on, because originally I was interested in fleshing out the backgrounds of the Founders themselves for plot purposes. A more general desire to simply turn this into an etymological hobby-project came later, and had me deciding to do the castle name as well as its creators. After all, the Founders would be a footnote in history, simply particularly powerful individuals, if they had never created Hogwarts. And so I begin here. I am putting the analysis of Hogwarts before my older pieces because thematically, it makes sense to discuss the building and the people separately, and I didn't much like how it looked at the end. So, this is the etymological origin of Hogwarts. J.K. Rowling claimed in multiple interviews (referenced in Scifi Stack Exchange thread: [Why did JK Rowling chose the name 'Hogwarts'?](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/100229/why-did-jk-rowling-choose-the-name-hogwarts/)) that she got the idea from the plant  _hogwort_ , but frankly this essay is not trying to figure out why Jo named her castle Hogwarts. It is trying to determine why the Founders might have named the castle/school they built or took over a word or phrase in O.E. way back in the tenth century A.D. that in modern day somehow morphed into the word "Hogwarts".

Now, while Hogwarts sounds quite funny and makes for something that enables quite a bit of punning and joking (Pigfarts, anyone?) it is almost impossible that this was the original name passed down from the Anglo-Saxon/Ænglisc because neither the word  _hog_ , meaning a swine/pig, nor the word  _wart_ , meaning a small, hard, benign growth on the skin, are exactly the same in Ænglisc as they are in Modern English. "Hog" has a number of words for it, varying by region/dialect and also sometimes by shades of meaning: fór literally means pig or hog, swín is the origin of our English swine, fédelswín means fattened pig, bearg also literally means pig or hog but is also a word for a barrow, and gilte is a young, barren sow/female pig. "Wart" is a bit easier to match, as  _weart_  is clearly the Ænglisc origin of our modern word for wart. But still, that only translates half of the portmanteau and does not account for context. So, where to begin?

Personally, I began by googling "what does Hogwarts mean?" Such a Millennial answer, I know, but it gave me a starting point to jump off from. The thread in which I found the idea can be seen in the Resources paragraph above. There is discussion below the theory, but most of it vacillates back and forth and so I'm only taking the original idea as groundwork for my own extrapolation. The theory itself is brief:

_"Hogwarts was founded before William the Conquerer so the language of origin would probably be closely related to Old English (or Latin but let's ignore that for now). Two related etymologies stand out to me: Hohwardos, coming from the Old Saxon for high wards, and Hogeweards, meaning hillwards. Both seem to work but the latter seems more solid."_

Now, let us examine the facts to see how well this theory holds up as a whole. First, the supposition that Hogwarts was founded before William the Conqueror. Pottermore doesn't have any dates that I can find, but the Harry Potter wikia lists the dates of the castle's origins in three specific articles that I could find. The first, in the article on [Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry](http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Hogwarts_School_of_Witchcraft_and_Wizardry) lists a vague "10th century". Following the link on that date led to a page on significant events in the Wizarding World in the first millennium, where the date was further clarified to be circa 993 A.D. The article on Hogwarts Castle itself (separate from the school article) also lists the c. 993 date. References on those pages link this claim specifically to the words of Professor Binns in the second Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The exact quote that supports the detail is in Chapter 9 (The Writing on the Wall):

_"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago — the precise date is uncertain — by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age."_

"Over a thousand years ago" from the date in the book (roughly November-ish of 1992) would actually be circa 992 or earlier, but it's still particularly close. And actually, considering the known unreliability in the text of the person speaking (Professor Binns, ghost), it is possible that it is even earlier than that. He may or may not be aware of the current date, after all. He is shown numerous times to not actually know who his current students are, so it is equally possible that the last date he remembers is whenever he died. If that is the case then it could be even earlier in the 10th century (though, as in the movies the lines were given to Professor McGonagall it is more likely that the circa 992/993 date is the most accurate). So, Hogwarts the school was founded, and it is possible the original elements of the castle were also built, in the mid-to-late 10th century. As William I completed his conquest of England in 1066 (the mid-11th century for those confused), I'd say this well supports the idea that Hogwarts existed before King William ever set foot in England.

The next supposition in this reddit theory is that the language of origin would be most closely related to Old English, Old Saxon, or Latin. As the reddit theorizer discarded Latin, we will as well, as Latin doesn't well fit the term "Hogwarts" anyway. Old English is the Ænglisc I have referenced several times already in this essay, and it is also known as Anglo-Saxon. It is derived from a blending of Saxon and the native Latin-influenced local Celtic languages, and was spoken from around the mid-5th century (the 400s) through the conquest of England by King William, though he replaced it in high society for a time with Anglo-Norman (a French variant of the period). It is the most likely candidate for the language Hogwarts came from, and so while I will acknowledge that Hohwardos is similar, and might have been what it was called on the Continent for a while, I will be mostly examining the second creation in the reddit theory.

So, could "Hogwarts" be derived from "Hogeweards", how and why?

Hoge-weards is basically a mashup of two words:  _hoge_  and  _weards_. "Hoge" is linguistically related (Scots Gaelic/Old Scottish dialect) to the Old English "howe/how" which translates as hill. This makes sense; Hogwarts is built up on a mountain and is the largest building in its area. How much do you want to bet that when it was new people who lived nearby (possibly in an early or proto version of Hogsmeade), they just called it "that castle on the hill"? Not a difficult leap to make, either through naming convention or simple logic. Weards at first glance does not seem to fit half as well. It's Hog _warts_ , after all, not Hog _wards_. And you would be right, except that with the introduction of French, and in the Great Vowel Shift some time later, pronunciations of things got a bit...mangled. And it is entirely possible for a harsh sound to be softened over the centuries of use, particularly in English. So, the harsh sounding  _wards_  becomes the softer  _warts_  and because it happened so gradually nobody realized they were now talking about a pustules on a pig instead of a magically protected hill. Thematically and culturally, it makes more sense for a group of witches and wizards to name their new magic castle Warded Hill than Warty Hog. Warded Hill has cultural significance identifying it as a magical dwelling, and also hints at the protections keeping said magical dwelling safe from non-magicals who in that time period were not too friendly towards magical people.

As a whole, humanity has a sheer lack of records for that time period, a fact which likely holds true for the Wizarding World simply because of the lack of info we're given on the Founders and the early history of Hogwarts. Due to this, nobody ever realizes the name "Hogwarts" used to mean something different, because the thing about language is that names of locations rarely change too much. Our  _understanding_  of those names changes as we keep using the same old thing even though our own culture and language is continuing to progress and change where old names have not. There are excellent examples of this everywhere in the world. Think of London. It came from Old English Lunden, which was borrowed from Latin Londīnium, which in turn was borrowed from a pre-Roman settlement already in the area when the Romans built Londīnium. And it's thought that  _that_  settlement name was borrowed from an even older, possibly pre-Celtic, society that lived along the Thames millennia ago. Nobody really knows what it means, but at some point it meant something to someone (possibly  _lond,_  "wild", according to one theorist, or  _lon-don-jon_  meaning flooded valley according to another). Now, it's essentially a nonsense word. Hogwarts hasn't gotten quite that far down the linguistic rabbit hole, but it certainly sounds nonsensical in meaning and significance, if nothing else.

And as for those aforementioned people living nearby, Hogsmeade is actually quite easy to etymologically trace. Its “hog” root is the same as Hogwarts, coming from _hoge_ which is related to the Old English “howe/how” meaning hill. “Meade” is only slightly more obscured. One might assume that it refers to mead, being a fermented honey drink that would certainly make sense in the context of the Three Broomsticks and the Hog’s Head pubs that we know will eventually be in Hogsmeade. This assumption is likely incorrect, however, as O.E. for mead is actually _medu_. It is entirely more likely that the “meade” in Hogsmeade was derived from the word _mæd_ instead. “Mæd” means meadow, pasture, or valley in Ænglisc. So Hogs-mead(e) is the Hill’s Valley, or the valley next to the hill. It makes sense, when likely the village was founded by people who were helping to build the castle or who were parents to children being taught in the castle. Of course, due to the abundance of pubs in the village in modern times, most witches or wizards likely associate the village with the “alcoholic beverage” reading of meade, but it works either way, so in this particular case, either one works as a modern reading.

So, once upon a time in the 10th century the four greatest witches and wizards of the age banded together to build a school of magic. They named it Warded Hill for its incredible defenses, and it became a refuge for magical children so much that the oldest modern all-magical village was built right down the road. This village was called Hill’s Valley, for its location right next to and its association with the Warded Hill.

Hogeweards = Hill of Wards or Warded Hill. Hoge + weards, meaning hill + wards (hoge >> hog, Scot >> how/howe Old Scot/O.E. for hill) weards >> wards >> warts. Hogwarts.

Hogsmæd = Valley by the Hill, or Hill’s Valley. Hoge(s) + mæd, meaning hill (poss.) + valley (hoge >> hog, Scot >> how/howe Old Scot/O.E. for hill) mæd >> mead >> meade. Hogsmeade.

**Gryffindor**

Today, we know the first of these four Founders by the name Godric Gryffindor. But is that his original name, and if so, what does his name tell us about him?

A brief history of Godric Gryffindor (according to Pottermore's [Famous Gryffindors through the Ages](https://www.pottermore.com/features/famous-gryffindors-through-the-ages)):

_"One of the four Hogwarts founders, Gryffindor was bold, brave and a truly exceptional wizard. He was also the most accomplished dueller of his age, and his sword is a treasured artefact. He was born in a West Country village, later called Godric’s Hollow in his honour and home to Lily, James and Harry Potter."_

The Sorting Hat claims Godric was "from wild moor", and West Country would certainly have counted as such in the 10th century. Godric is an Old English name comprised of the elements  _god_  (which means the same as it does in English) and  _ric_  (which means power). Thus, his name is "power of God". An interesting quirk of cultures where names have meaning in their own language, instead of in some language long-gone, is that it is common for individuals in such cultures to give their children names that reflect values or traits they want their children to possess in adulthood. It is a sort of blessing, because even among the Christian and the common masses names were thought to have power. So, what with being born in modern-day West Country (then an Ænglisc region), having a common-language name implies his parents named him for the traits or properties of the name in question. While not impossible for him to be a child of two magical individuals, considering his name refers to God (almost definitely the Judeo-Christian God based on the religions of the area in the 10th century) it is unlikely.

Again, witch burnings are a thing. They were mostly played off for laughs in the books by Rowling — Wendelin the Weird, anyone? — but I can't imagine that fully trained witches and wizards got away so easily all the time. Likely, muggleborns were often caught and killed because of a lack of formal training unless they were wealthy enough or resourceful enough to hunt down a wizard who could teach them skills to survive capture and attempted murder. Even half- or pureblooded magicals would be vulnerable if they were young, and from real historical records we know that teenagers and even children could sometimes be caught up in witch-hunting frenzies. Competent magical adults might also have been vulnerable if they didn't have or possibly lost their wand and weren't talented at wandless magic — or even if they simply didn't know adequate magic to escape. Going by this reasoning, I find it unlikely that Godric was named by a witch and wizard. More likely, he either had one or two non-magical parents, making him halfblood or muggleborn, named "power of God" as a blessing from a religious parent.

But what about his surname, I hear you ask. Gryffindor does not sound like the name of an Ænglisc muggle or half-muggle family on the opposite side of England to France. Also, keep in mind this is still fifty years  _or more_  before the Norman invasion. French does not as of yet have much influence in England. Trade does happen, but mostly between Britain's east coast and the west coast of France. It is highly unlikely that a Wessex family (Wessex being the pre-England kingdom of modern-day West Country) would be French enough and proud enough of their French heritage to keep the distinctly French, distinctly magical surname of Gryffindor.

Let's consider the name itself. Gryffindor. Gryffin d'or, in the French. In the right time period (I believe this would either be Late Old or Early Middle French) it would more specifically be Grifon d'Or. The word griffin has existed with its seemingly endless spelling variants for centuries, going all the way back to Ancient Greek. In this time period and context, it could refer in French either to the legendary creature the Greek griffin or as a general term for a bird of prey. It also existed with various spellings in Ænglisc at the time, so is the less important root in the two-part word Gryffindor. The important part here is the "dor" — or, more specifically,  _d'or_. "Or" has been the French word for gold as far back as the language has been called  _French_ , and is derived from the Latin aurum of the same definition. The d' modifier is in this context a possessive. Translated to English, Grifon d'Or would mean Griffin of Gold, or with English phrasing, Golden Griffin.

Griffin being a magical creature, and gold implying nobility or royalty, it's an odd name for a family that comes from such a remote area. It's a pretentious name for someone from a village that, while named after him eventually, has no known name before that. Remember, he was from a "village". Not a city, not an estate. A tiny village that in modern day is portrayed as a sleepy little country town. It's doubtful it was once a massive medieval city, or something. Hermione at the very least would surely have mentioned any castles or important landmarks in the vicinity of Harry's home while they were discussing it or visiting it.

But surely he could have one parent from the Continent? Perhaps a French father who was a displaced wizarding nobleman or something?

My answer is yes, that is  _possible_  but it isn't likely. Ever seen a map of England (or perhaps you live there)? West Country goes from the southern border of Wales down into modern Cornwall. If it's close to any non-England bodies, it's far closer to Ireland than France. There would be little to no trade between France and that part of England. Often, a simple answer suffices where a complicated one seems rather silly. What if Gryffindor were a title and not a family name?

This would account for both the dramatic nature of the name and its foreign origin. We know Godric must have traveled. He somehow ended up with three other magicals building a castle in Scotland, the farthest region north from West Country still on the island of Britain. We know he was a great duelist. Perhaps on his travels north he fought a real griffin, or saved someone else from a griffin. Or maybe his fighting style just reminded someone he either fought or saved in a fight of a golden griffin of said unknown person's homeland. Consider an English king who would have been more-or-less contemporary to the Founders of Hogwarts, Æthelred Unræd. In Modern English, his name is Ethelred the Ill-Counseled, referring to the disastrous end to his reign. While his name was acquired posthumously, it was not uncommon for warriors or kings to gain epithets based on their actions at the time.

Epithets were considered even more defining than a family name, as they say something about you in particular to the people around you. It is likely that Godric, of unknown family, at some point before founding Hogwarts either went to France or encountered a Frenchman who called him Godric the Golden Griffin because of deeds he performed. Then, later when he was able to purchase a goblin-forged sword of his own, he placed his title instead of his family name, because in conversation that would be how he was introduced (particularly if his epithet was well-known). Why he eventually used a lion rampant instead of a griffin rampant on the crest that became the emblem of his chosen students is unclear. According to [Symbolism of Heraldry](https://www.heraldryandcrests.com/pages/heraldic-symbolism-a-z), the griffin symbolizes valor and bravery where a lion symbolizes courage and majesty. Perhaps he was a lion animagus (not the giant squid as rumored ;P) and wanted to display his animal form in a crest he probably designed for himself and his descendants. Unlike the mysteries concerning his mixed Ænglisc and Old French name, this is one curiosity I can't unravel with the evidence I have.

Godric Grifon d'Or = Godric the Golden Griffin/Godric of the Golden Griffin. Godric (O.E. power of God). Gryffindor Fr. >> Griffin d'or (Golden Griffon) ((Juxtaposition of F. and O.E. implies Godric is either half-French or Gryffindor is a title, not a surname, which implies he either spent time on the east coast and made friends with Frenchmen or spent time in France to get his title. He probably didn't get it in England because this is pre-Norman Britain)). Godric Gryffindor.

**Hufflepuff**

Helga Hufflepuff's name was actually the easiest to decipher, despite the appearance of difficulty her unusual surname brings. "Helga", first, is every bit as simple as "Godric" was. It is a Norse name, not particularly uncommon in 10th century Britain. Helga is the feminine form of Helge/Helgi, which in turn is derived from Old Norse  _heilagr_  meaning holy or blessed. It was in use in both Nordic cultures and in England prior to the Norman conquest, but died out in England as French invaded the naming conventions along with the advent of an Anglo-Norman king.

At the time our Lady Hufflepuff would have been born, it would have been fully in use and likely a rather popular name as well. It’s a bit more unusual for Helga, as the “valley[s] broad” location given to her by the Sorting Hat is generally agreed to be Wales, and most of the heaviest Scandinavian invasions (and thus the influx of Nordic culture) occurred in the north of Britain, mainly in Scotland and what once was Northumbria. Still, possibly Helga had a parent from farther north, or perhaps the name itself had in fact migrated farther south, something which can’t well be proven for the time period in question due to a lack of records. It might have been depicted as Helja rather than Helga, particularly if it’s more directly derived from Norse (meaning a Nordic or half-Nordic parent) but otherwise is likely totally unchanged.

Hufflepuff likewise is probably mostly unchanged, though its origins were harder to decipher. A thread on the Scifi and Fantasy Stack Exchange (see resources above) suggested the idiom "huff and puff". This is possible, as both  _huff_  and  _puff_  derive from Old English: huff is from a more general onomatopoeia that doesn't have a set spelling (also seen as hough/hech/etc.), and puff is actually an Ænglisc derivative from the words pípfan and ápyffan which both mean to breathe or blow. The difficulty here is that the idiom itself, as according to my etymology sources it doesn’t seem to have arisen until the 14th or 15th century. So, it could be  _related_  to the idiom “huff and puff”, but likely does not come directly from said idiom. Huff also could relate to the word  _huffle_ , which refers to wavering, wind, or a feast, but I couldn't find any actual dates attached to definitions of this word, so it's more of a secondary consideration. Amusingly enough, the feast connotation of "huffle" would actually work if Helga was a good four to five hundred years younger, as in the 13th century (1400s) a puff was a type of pastry. But alas, that usage wasn't around in the 10th century and so an entirely amusing mental picture of Helga Hufflepuff being a baker must be discarded.

Going back to the two original words and their origins “huff”, a general onomatopoeia that doesn't have a set spelling (also seen as hough/hech/etc.), and “puff”, an Ænglisc derivative from the words pípfan and ápyffan which both mean to breathe or blow, it is most likely that Hufflepuff is some sort of location name. Possibly it denotes a steep hill or a very windy location where a "windy/breathy" name would make sense. As aforementioned, Helga was from the "valley[s] broad" of Wales, east and north of Godric. I couldn't find Welsh connotations with any part of her name, so her birthplace is likely near the borders of modern day Wales, but in the 10th century was an Ænglisc-speaking location.

To recap, a young Ænglisc woman named Helga was born in a village on the edges of 10th century Welsh territory. Helga's family was named for the windy hill her home or village occupied. Her first name indicates either Norse heritage or a liking for Norse names on the part of her parents. Helga Hufflepuff, born to one parent living on a very windy hill and a second with Nordic heritage who came from the either Scotland or Northumbria, eventually left her home and travelled north in search of her fortunes, where she eventually met her three friends and founded a school.

Helga Hufflepuff =  **direct translation**. Might have been spelled Helja Hufflepuff instead at the time.

**Ravenclaw**

The etymology of Rowena Ravenclaw's name was difficult primarily because I discovered two similarly likely results. First, it must be observed that while the first origin theory I will be discussing is  _likely_ , it is not quite as believable as the one that will follow it. I'm simply following these linguistic rabbit trails where they lead. Unusually, I believe that "Ravenclaw" was in fact this Founder's actual, proper name pulled forwards in time. In two of the three language options that Rowena's first name comes in, Ravenclaw can be almost directly compared in both pronunciation and meaning. So, I will discuss the name Rowena, and will mention what variant of Ravenclaw would match which version of her name.

Rowena as a name is Germanic in origin. The Germanic/Saxon name Hrodwunn is comprised of two elements:  _hrod_  and  _wunn_ , meaning respectively fame and joy/bliss. If Rowena is a modern Anglicization of the Ger. Hrodwunn, her surname would likely be the equally Saxon Hrabanklawe, being a direct portmanteau of hram/hraban (Germanic for raven) and klawe (self-explanatory). Hrodwunn Hrabanklawe is quite the heavy mouthful, but it does fit the regal woman whose crest is an eagle (a symbol of royalty in heraldry) and who owns a mysterious diadem she may or may not have enchanted herself. Unfortunately, both Pottermore and the Harry Potter wikia pages for Rowena Ravenclaw agree she's from the glens of Scotland. While Rowena was from Scotland, that does not mean her name naturally must be Gaelic. In the 10th to 11th centuries, while Gaelic was at its peak as a high-born language, there was a significant portion of the lower part of the region that mostly spoke Old English instead. As Rowena Ravenclaw does not lend well to Gaelic, it is likely therefore that Rowena herself was a Lothian or Northumbrian noblewoman of some stature. If she were to have a foreign name while raised in southern Scotland a Nordic name would be more likely — Vikings raided the northernmost parts of the British Isles, Saxons raided England proper — and so it is probable her name was not the Germanic original. That leaves two options, both with the same probable surname.

Either Rowena was originally the Latinized Rovina form of Hrodwunn, given a Latin-sounding name perhaps because of her station, or her name was the O.E. Anglicized version of Hrodwunn: Hro[p]wenn. I must admit I know little of the Lothians, and so I do not know which version would have culturally been more likely to be used. Either makes sense for the time period and the languages of the area, and both fit more or less with the Ænglisc version of her surname Ravenclaw. This being Hræfnclawu, again very literally made up of the Ænglisc words for raven and claw.

Something interesting to note about Rowena is that we do not know if Ravenclaw is her married or her maiden surname. If she were higher ranking than her husband she would have kept her own family name, but if they were equals or he was superior she would have only become a Ravenclaw with her marriage. As we do not know the origins of her mysterious diadem it is hard to say (it could have been a family heirloom or from her spouse). Personally, I feel it makes the most sense for her to have been the higher-class, and the diadem to perhaps have been passed down through a female line, hence why Helena felt she had rights to it despite it being her mother's magical project. I also feel it is likely that Rowena's name was properly Rovina because, again, of her daughter. Helena is a Latinate form of Helen, matching with a possible theme or family tradition of giving girls (and maybe boys, but no evidence for this) Roman-esque names.

Rovina of House Hræfnclawu = Rowena >> Germanic Hrod + wunn (fame + joy/bliss); Anglicized or Latinized poss. Hro[p]wenn or Rovina. Possibly a late translation of her actual surname? >> Hram/Hraban (Ger. raven) + klawe (Middle Ger. claw) = Hrabanklawe; Hræfn (O.E. raven) + Clawu (O.E. claw) = Hræfnclawu (Both are direct translation to Ravenclaw. She's either Ænglisc or Saxon-born. Probably Ænglisc, considering she's from "glen" i.e. Scotland). Rowena Ravenclaw.

**Slytherin**

I must admit that the most interesting person to do, for me, was Salazar Slytherin. His first name is nearly an anachronism, his surname is a nonsense word that really, really sounds like a snake pun. All as Jo intended, of course. But in 10th century England, how could Salazar Slytherin have come to exist? The answers were surprisingly fascinating, and provide interesting depths to Slytherin's character.

First, I claim that his name is nearly an anachronism. What do I mean by that?

Salazar is predominately a surname in modern day, of Spanish and Portuguese origin. It could have been a first name in times past, but was probably not a popular one due to the lack of information about Salazar as a first name rather than a surname. It is, like most of the above names I have discussed, made up of two elements. The strange thing is that its two elements aren't exactly from the same language.  _Sala_  is a Romance root that exists in several Latin-based languages including Spanish. It means "hall". Za(h)ar is Basque and it means "old". Put together, Salazar roughly means "dweller in the old hall". This begs the interesting question of why and how Slytherin was given such an interesting foreign name as a babe.

Slytherin himself was probably from the fens of England. He also could be from Ireland, as it too has "fens", but there's a specific location in England known solely as the Fenlands due to the fens there, and that is most likely where he is from. The Fenlands are a region north of the old kingdom of Anglia. Prior to the 11th century the Fens were not under the direct control of the Anglo-Saxon kings who ruled England at the time, and were considered reclusive. Despite this the Fens are along a good bit of coastline, and likely did at least some trade with people across the channel. As part of their reclusive customs, the Fens were considered a refuge and an area of monastic settlement. This might lend both to Salazar's unusual first name and his dislike for non-magicals. As a place that is both waterfront and somewhere people could go to hide, Salazar might have been the son of a sailor or runaway of some sort from modern-day Spain. Perhaps Salazar was his father's family name, perhaps at the time it was a given name. And due to the high numbers of Christian religious settlements in the Fens (the mid-10th century is considered a monastic revival in the region) Salazar may have encountered a great deal of persecution both personally and as part of a magical community in an area with a growing population of Christian authorities.

The Fens also explain his parseltongue abilities. Snakes are often symbolically linked with either earth or water in mythology and various symbolisms around the world. Perhaps he's related to some water-related magical creature, or perhaps the witches and wizards of the Fenlands developed magic that was water-based and allowed them to converse with snakes. His parseltongue could also be from his father's side, as all we've confirmed right now is that the man was likely Basque or medieval Spanish.

But the most interesting thing I discovered about Salazar Slytherin is his surname. Or, rather, his  _nickname_. In order to discover the etymology of Slytherin — a word which in truth was invented by JK Rowling — I had to first figure out how she created the name. I have no doubt Jo was trying to pun about his snake connection with his name, leaving the likely origin of "Slytherin" to be the word "slithering" or more simply "slither". I looked up Ænglisc translations of the word "slither" and found one word that sort-of fit,  _slidrian_. It meant "to slip" instead of "to slither" but it was close enough. Perhaps Salazar's family lived on a slippery bank, I considered. That would make sense for a watery location like the Fens and would make his surname a location-name like Hufflepuff's. But while trawling through the words related to "slidrian", I noticed something interesting. A similar word, slifer, meant slippery. But it also meant  _deceitful_  and the accusative masculine form was "sliferne".

I had an epiphany while checking the cases to see if it really worked. Slytherin wasn't Salazar's surname. He wasn't from some big family of Slytherins. He was "Slytherin" because at some point Godric Gryffindor called him the Ænglisc form of "slippery b***" and the name  _stuck_. Don't believe me?

Linguistically, f and v have more close a relation than v and d. You'll notice in the above section on Ravenclaw that the "f" in  _hræfn_  becomes a "v" in modern  _raven_. This is because of how English consonants shifted over time. From Germanic to English many words morphed from b/p  >> f/v (Grimm's Law) and some words went a step further as f and v differentiated in our language. Thus, it is  _more likely_  that Slytherin derived from sliferne than from slidrain. Also, it makes all the sense even if you include the slidrain angle. Possibly Salazar's family did live in a location with a slippery-related name, and Godric called him a deceitful prat once and realized that he'd just punned because "Salazar of the Slippery Banks" just became "Salazar the Slippery/Deceitful". Punning is very important to epithets. It's even better if it's personally significant  _and_  kind of funny. It's a derivative from Nordic culture, I think (Beowulf? Anyone?).

So, Salazar Slytherin is a modern adaptation of Salazar the Slippery. Anybody else find this all kinds of hilarious? He got stuck with a rather derogatory nickname for the rest of eternity. This is going in every fanfiction I ever write that has Salazar Slytherin in it.

Salazahar [p]e Sliferne = Salazar the Slippery/Deceitful. Salazar (dweller in the old hall/lit. sala + zahar "old hall") Spanish/Portuguese. Sala is Spanish for hall, derived from Latin. Za(h)ar is Basque for old. Possibly he had a parent from the continent? He  _was_ from the fens (Anglia and Kent). Might have been Salaza(h)ar originally, as Salazar is the modern form. We dropped a breath-syllable. Slifer (O.E. deceitful, slippery) >> sliferne is acc.; lit. "Salazar the Deceitful".

**Conclusion**

In conclusion, this is the story of the Founders and their school. Godric Gryffindor was from modern-day West Country, born in a tiny village that would one day be renamed after him. He was born either a muggleborn or a half-blood, named Godric for the blessing his parent(s) hoped the name would grant him. Godric eventually left his home to travel and seek his fortune, gaining a reputation for a talented warrior along the way. Either during travels in France, or due to an encounter with a Frenchman in eastern England, Godric was granted the epithet “Grifon d’Or”, or “Golden Griffin” for his glamor and talent as a warrior. Godric would later have this epithet put on his goblin-forged sword instead of his family name, which is lost to time. Godric likely met first with Helga Hufflepuff, a young woman of Norse heritage born in a rather windy location on the borders of modern-day Wales. As the two each hail from a region near to the other’s birthplace (West Country being just south-and-east of Wales), they may have met up and travelled together for a time. While in eastern England they encountered another sorcerer, this one from the Fenlands. Named Salazar for a foreign father and known for the “Slippery Banks” he was born on, this wizard was more hostile to muggles than his two new friends, in large part because of the persecution the local monasteries and other religious establishments of the Fens perpetrated. At some point someone, possibly Godric, punned a joking insult on his surname and Salazar began to be called “Salazar the Slippery”, or Salazar [p]e Sliferne.

The three companions all travelled north together in further exploration, and in time met a princess/noblewoman of the north, the Latin-named Rovina of House Hræfnclawu. She was inspired by their ideas of perhaps setting up a school together where they could teach all they had learnt to young witches and wizards — and do so in safety away from muggles. Rovina, being a noblewoman, was able to help fund either the construction of a new castle or the refurbishment of an abandoned one. They ringed powerful protections around the castle and called it Warded Hill, Hoge Weards in their tongue. The construction crews and many parents of their initial students set up shop just down the hill from the castle, naming their new village Hoges-Mæd, Hill’s Valley.

And today, they are known as Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Salazar Slytherin, and Rowena Ravenclaw, founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Students of Hogwarts are allowed to visit Hogsmeade Village on special weekends.

**Author's Note:**

> Also note that this is the background I will use in basically every story I will ever write that has to do with the Founders of Hogwarts and the origins of Hogwarts itself. Now, Soulmarks doesn't really go into any of that, but I'm currently working on other stories that do, so it's just something to bear in mind for the future.
> 
> Speaking of Problem with Soulmarks, it should be updated later this week, after Mardi Gras.


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